1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor mat, and a process for producing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a floor mat, such as one used in a passenger, trunk or cargo compartment of an automobile or an entry mat used in a shop or home, which is placed such a manner that a marginal peripheral area of the floor mat is brought into contact with a floor wall or floor walls while, in some cases, a pressure or force is applied thereto to bend the marginal peripheral area.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mat having a raised belt-like portion or banking of a marginal peripheral area, so that the peripheral area is projected from the central flat area to thereby prevent the floor of, for example, a passenger compartment of an automobile from becoming soiled by a scattering of clods of soil, sand, mud, gravel or the like out of the floor mat is known.
As a floor mat of the above type, a laminated floor mat having an upper face layer of carpeting or the like and a base layer of a molded sheet of an elastomeric flexible material is widely used. A thermoplastic elastomer is preferable for the base layer because it is relatively flexible and allows a close contact of the floor mat with a floor wall. Further, a thermoplastic elastomer has advantages in that it is recyclable, and may be molded by an ordinary molding machine in a short period of time, in a continuous manner.
In a process for producing the floor mat composed of the laminate of the upper face layer of carpeting or the like, and the base layer of the thermoplastic elastomer, however, the thermoplastic elastomer must be heated so that it can be bonded to the carpeting. A sufficient peeling strength can be obtained if the contact time is long enough, but, if the contact time is too long, the carpeting layer may be damaged by heat. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten the contact time while still obtaining a sufficient peeling strength.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,961 discloses a floor mat of a two-layered structure composed of (1) a base layer having a relatively thin main body section bordered by a relatively thicker edge section and (2) an upper face layer laminated thereon. The thicker edge section has a channel opening from the bottom surface, and a two-layered step portion extends from the outer edge of the thicker edge section. The step portion contains a thin lower layer extending perpendicularly from the outside wall of the thicker edge section, and an area for a bonding of the upper face layer to the base layer can be added to thereby increase the strength of the bond therebetween and the resistance to separation. As mentioned above, the floor mat disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,961 has such a step portion containing the thin lower layer extending from the thicker edge section. However, when a force is applied to the edge section of the floor mat although the thin lower layer is easily deformed, there is very little deforming of the thick edge section, and therefore, it becomes difficult to bring the floor mat into close contact with a floor wall or floor walls. Accordingly, clods of soil, dirt or the like are liable to enter a space under the floor mat, from a gap formed between the floor wall or floor walls and the floor mat.